House of Representatives

Subterms

    More stories

    • 125 Shares169 Views

      in US Politics

      George Santos scandal: Democratic predecessor calls him a ‘con man’

      by

      George Santos scandal: Democratic predecessor calls him a ‘con man’Tom Suozzi, Santos’s forerunner for New York’s third district, says the Republican winner should be ‘removed by Congress’ The Democrat who vacated the US House seat won by the controversial Republican George Santos said on Tuesday Congress was letting in “a con man”.George Santos: Brazil reactivates fraud case against fabulist congressman-electRead moreTom Suozzi won New York’s third district, which covers parts of Long Island and Queens, in 2016, but stepped down in 2022 in order to run for governor. Santos lost to Suozzi in 2020 but beat Robert Zimmerman for the vacant seat.Since Santos’s victory, almost every part of his campaign biography has been called into question.Intense scrutiny has been applied to his claims about his education and career in business and to elements of his personal story, including his supposed descent from Holocaust survivors and a claim that his mother died as a result of the 9/11 attacks. Santos has admitted to some inaccuracies.But even after prosecutors in Brazil reactivated a criminal fraud investigation regarding the use of a stolen chequebook, and amid reports that federal prosecutors in New York are examining Santos’s background and financial dealings, Republicans in Congress have not acted.On Tuesday, as the new Congress gathered, Suozzi pointed out in a column for the New York Times that on being sworn in, Santos would take “an oath to ‘bear true faith’ to the constitution and [to] take this obligation without any ‘purpose of evasion’”.Suozzi wrote: “I’ve lost track of how many evasions and lies Mr Santos has told about himself, his finances and his history and relationship with our stretch of Long Island and north-eastern Queens.”Santos being seated in Congress, Suozzi said, would “diminish our Congress, our country and … his constituents.“It saddens me that after 30 years of public service rooted in hard work and service to the people of this area, I’m being succeeded by a con man.”When Santos arrived on Capitol Hill, he ignored questions from a scrum of reporters. Before being sworn in, he supported Kevin McCarthy for speaker. He could not be formally sworn in until the speakership had been decided. That process was delayed until Wednesday at least, an overnight adjournment having followed three inconclusive votes.Suozzi said Santos could still be held to account by “our democracy, our free press and the rule of law” as well as “the voters of the third district”.Those voters, he wrote, “believe in the rule of law, in playing by the rules. They like authenticity in their leaders and pride themselves on having a good BS detector.“The fact is that Mr Santos’s behavior went beyond BS: he fabricated the basics of his biography to an extent that most voters wouldn’t have thought possible. The shame would be too great, right?”Lamenting the rise of political shamelessness, Suozzi pointed to Donald Trump’s famous 2016 claim that “he could ‘shoot somebody’ on Fifth Avenue and still not lose supporters”.Suozzi wrote: “If we are going to subdue the tyranny of unchecked liars and their lies then Mr Santos must be held accountable: he must be removed by Congress or by prosecutors, because there is no indication that he will be moved by conscience to voluntarily resign.”Suozzi likened Santos to Sam Bankman-Fried and Bernie Madoff, the former a cryptocurrency magnate who has pleaded not guilty to charges of fraud, the latter sentenced to 150 years in 2009 over the largest Ponzi scheme in history.Top Republicans remain silent over George Santos campaign liesRead moreSuozzi said: “Not unlike them, [Santos] appears to have conducted his finances in highly unusual, if not unlawful, ways. But I have to wonder, having seen his delight for attention and his self-regard, if he loves that everyone now knows his name – even though it’s because of yet another big lie.”Suozzi insisted Santos would be held accountable.“The people of my district are holding rallies, signing petitions and calling on the Republican leadership to act,” he wrote.Calling the district “a model for moderation … a 50-50 district with constituents who embrace a get-it-done attitude” and “value tell-it-like-it-is leadership”, Suozzi said those voters now found themselves “saddled with a slippery, inexperienced liar who tells it like it isn’t”.Such New Yorkers, Suozzi said, were now “counting on the press to keep digging in, law enforcement to keep investigating and the political pressure to keep building on the House”, in order to remove Santos from Congress.TopicsUS newsUS CongressNew YorkUS politicsHouse of RepresentativesnewsReuse this content More

    • 138 Shares199 Views

      in Elections

      How Far Right Are the 20 Republicans Who Voted Against McCarthy

      by

      The Republicans who blocked Representative Kevin McCarthy of California from becoming speaker on Tuesday include some of the most hard-right lawmakers in the House; most denied the 2020 election, are members of the Freedom Caucus, or both. Here’s a closer look at the 20 lawmakers. Re-elected representatives Newly elected Andy Biggs Ariz. 5th Dan Bishop […] More

    • 125 Shares129 Views

      in Elections

      Speaker Fight Reveals a Divided and Disoriented House Republican Majority

      by

      In failing to coalesce around Kevin McCarthy for speaker, Republicans showcased divisions that portend real difficulties in governing.WASHINGTON — House Republicans began their new majority rule on Tuesday with a chaotic and historic debacle, an embarrassing failure to rally around a leader that showcased the difficulties they will face in performing even the basics of governing and their lack of a unifying agenda.Handed narrow control of the House by voters in November, Republicans squandered the opening hours of the new Congress they could have used to dispel concerns about their capabilities. Instead, they feuded in a disorderly display over who among them should be speaker as the most extreme elements of the new majority repeatedly rejected Representative Kevin McCarthy of California.Despite Mr. McCarthy’s prominent role in fund-raising and delivering the House to Republicans and his backing among most in the party ranks, about 20 Republicans refused to support him and for the first time in a century forced repeated rounds of voting for the speakership. After three flailing attempts at electing a speaker, Republicans abruptly called for the House to be adjourned until noon Wednesday as they scrambled for a way out of their leadership morass. The stalemate meant the usually routine organization of the new House did not occur and its members were not sworn in, nor could any legislation be considered.The paralysis underscored the dilemma facing House Republicans: No matter the concessions made to some of those on the far right, they simply will not relent and join their colleagues even if it is for the greater good of their party, and perhaps the nation. They consider themselves conservative purists who cannot be placated unless all their demands are met — and maybe not even then. Their agenda is mostly to defund, disrupt and dismantle government, not to participate in it.It means that whoever emerges from the messy leadership fight will face deep-seated resistance when trying to shepherd spending bills and other measures that are fundamental to governance. Tuesday’s spectacle reflected that House Republicans have grown more skilled at legislative sabotage than legislative success, leaving the difficult business of getting things done to others.“The rebels just don’t like McCarthy, and they seem to not be able to find a way to like him,” said John Feehery, a longtime Republican strategist and former top House aide. “They lack a legislative maturity to understand it can’t be personal. It has to be just business.”Mr. McCarthy himself sought to make the conflict about something bigger than himself in an appeal to his opponents to put aside whatever feelings they had about him so Republicans could move forward.A New Congress BeginsThe 118th Congress opened on Jan. 3, with Republicans taking control of the House and Democrats holding the Senate.George Santos: The congressman-elect from New York, a Republican who has made false claims about his background, education and finances, brings his saga to Capitol Hill.Pelosi Era Ends: Nancy Pelosi, the first woman to become House speaker, leaves a legacy that will be difficult for the new leadership of both parties to reach.Elise Stefanik: The New York congresswoman’s climb to MAGA stardom is a case study in the collapse of the old Republican establishment, but her rise may also be a cautionary tale.Retirements: While each legislative session always brings a round of retirements, the departure of experienced politicians this year is set to reverberate even more starkly in a divided Congress.“This can’t be about that you are going to leverage somebody for your own personal gain inside Congress,” Mr. McCarthy told reporters. “This has to be about the country.”But the holdouts were not yet budging.“I have heard nothing new from Kevin,” said Representative Lauren Boebert, Republican of Colorado and a McCarthy foe, between rounds of votes.To try to quell the revolt, Mr. McCarthy had already promised new rules that would open him or another figure to regular efforts to depose them from the speakership, along with requirements that would leave the leadership hamstrung and at the mercy of conservatives in trying to advance legislation.Representative Jim Jordan, the Ohio Republican and hard-right alternative for speaker favored by some conservatives, conceded that the legislative outlook was limited at best, considering that bills favored by House Republicans were unlikely to pass in the Democratic Senate or to be signed by President Biden.“So be it,” said Mr. Jordan in nominating Mr. McCarthy. “They have to answer to the people in 2024.”He also alluded to what was likely to be an epic struggle to keep the government running and stave off a disastrous debt default with Republicans in charge of the House, saying that their principal task was to ensure that Congress never again passed the kind of sprawling spending bill enacted last month.The breakdown on the House floor was the latest and most pronounced of the assaults by the hard right on its own congressional leadership in recent years. Archconservatives drove out John A. Boehner in 2015, denied Mr. McCarthy the votes needed to succeed Mr. Boehner at the time and complained about the stewardship of the compromise consensus choice of Paul D. Ryan. But Tuesday’s attack was their most aggressive yet, a nationally televised implosion that showcased the intransigence and unwillingness to compromise of a segment of House Republicans in what should have been a moment of triumph.

      .css-5h54w2{display:grid;grid-template-columns:2.271fr 1fr;grid-template-rows:repeat(6,1fr);grid-gap:4px;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-5h54w2{grid-gap:8px;}}.css-5h54w2 > :nth-child(1){grid-column:1;grid-row:1 / 4;}.css-5h54w2 > :nth-child(2){grid-column:1;grid-row:4 / 7;-webkit-align-self:end;-ms-flex-item-align:end;align-self:end;}.css-5h54w2 > :nth-child(3){grid-column:2;grid-row:1 / 3;}.css-5h54w2 > :nth-child(4){grid-column:2;grid-row:3 / 5;}.css-5h54w2 > :nth-child(5){grid-column:2;grid-row:5 / 7;-webkit-align-self:end;-ms-flex-item-align:end;align-self:end;}.css-rrq38y{margin:1rem auto;max-width:945px;}.css-1wsofa1{margin-top:10px;color:var(–color-content-quaternary,#727272);font-family:nyt-imperial,georgia,’times new roman’,times,Songti TC,simsun,serif;font-weight:400;font-size:0.875rem;line-height:1.125rem;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-1wsofa1{font-size:0.9375rem;line-height:1.25rem;}}@media (max-width:600px){.css-1wsofa1{margin-left:20px;margin-right:20px;}}The difficulty for Mr. McCarthy to secure speaker illustrated the dilemma facing House Republicans going forward.

      Even Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, typically a Republican firebrand eager to stir turmoil, castigated those holding out on Mr. McCarthy because of how it reflected on the party’s image.“If the base only understood that 19 Republicans voting against McCarthy are playing Russian roulette with our hard-earned Republican majority right now,” Ms. Greene said on Twitter. “This is the worst thing that could possibly happen.”Democrats were enjoying the tumult to a degree but also recognized the problems it could mean down the road. Representative Mike Quigley, a senior Democrat from Illinois, said the speaker fight was the culmination of a growing Republican ethos of “taking their ball and going home” if they fail to get what they demand.Other Democrats watched in amazement as they saw Republicans open their reign with a clash that would leave whoever was eventually chosen badly undermined and the party’s strength diluted from the start.“What a weakened position they have put themselves in,” marveled Representative Rosa DeLauro, a senior Democrat from Connecticut.The uproar in the House was in marked contrast to the opening day of the Senate, where seven new members were sworn in and senators then quietly adjourned for three weeks. While House Republicans were ensnared in a brutal internal battle, Senator Mitch McConnell, the Kentucky Republican and minority leader, was scheduled to appear alongside President Biden on Wednesday to celebrate funding for a major public works project in Kentucky.As they sought a way out of their dilemma, some Republicans acknowledged the poor message they were sending with the stalemate but also said that it was likely to be a distant memory with voters once the leadership question was resolved.“Just like everything in three months that becomes small ball, it becomes insignificant,” said Representative Ken Buck, Republican of Colorado. “In a year and a half, when people are starting to think about voting again, they are not thinking about that. They are thinking about what have we accomplished. It is more important to do things than it is to have a good first impression.”His colleagues no doubt hope Mr. Buck is correct. More

    • 188 Shares169 Views

      in US Politics

      Kevin McCarthy again falls short in second round of voting for House speaker – live

      by

      It’s an epic defeat for Kevin McCarthy and warring House Republicans. The second round of voting – which has not happened in a century – is over and California Republican McCarthy is still nowhere near a majority.The clerk of the House, Cheryl Johnson, will announce the official tally shortly, but the pen-and-paper watchers have Democrat Hakeem Jeffries on 212 votes, McCarthy on 203, the same desultory number he got in the first round, and fellow-Republican Jim Jordan on 19 votes.Once again it is unclear what will happen next, the chamber is still in session and, unless McCarthy drops out, we have a third round of voting pending. If Democrats could leave the chamber they’d probably pop to the proverbial popcorn cart and settle in for the rest of the spectacle.Representative Byron Donalds, a Republican of Florida, has become the first McCarthy supporter to switch his vote from McCarthy to Jordan.The vote got a few claps in the chamber.Hi there, is Maanvi Singh, reporting from West Coast. It seems Kevin McCarthy is on the verge of losing for the third time today, after five Republicans so far voted in support of Jim Jordan. Democrats, meanwhile, have remained united in voting for Democratic minority leader Hakeem Jeffries. Hello again, US politics blog readers, the drama in Washington is far from over as the election for House Speaker is still inconclusive.Republican Kevin McCarthy is suffering a humiliating drubbing at the hands of his supposed fellows, as right-wing rebels turn the first day of GOP control of the House in the new Congress into a crisis for the party.We are about to witness the third round of voting. Louisiana’s Steve Scalise just rose to his feet to nominate McCarthy for speaker.My colleague in California, Maanvi Singh, will take the helm of this blog now and we’ll continue to bring you the developments as they happen.Here’s where things stand:
      As we head for an excruciating third round of voting in the election for House Speaker, there is no sign of California Republican Kevin McCarthy, who has long aspired to step into the role, gaining a majority of the votes.
      Kevin McCarthy suffers defeat in second round of voting in House speaker election. It’s an epic loss for McCarthy and warring House Republicans. The second round of voting – which has not happened in a century – ended with McCarthy nowhere near a majority.
      Right-winger Jim Jordan of Ohio, who is a McCarthy supporter but was nominated by anti-McCarthy rebel Matt Gaetz to disrupt everything, already took 19 votes in the second round of voting in the election for House speaker.
      The first round of voting delivered a humiliating defeat for Kevin McCarthy’s bid to become House speaker. He just made history in the worst way. The first person in a century to lose the vote for speaker in the first round.
      After the roll call vote in the first round, Democratic minority leader Hakeem Jeffries had 212 votes, McCarthy had just 203, Republican strategic thorn Andy Biggs (nominated by rightwing rebel Paul Gosar) had 10 votes and nine lawmakers supported none of the three hats in the ring.
      All the new members of Congress elected in the midterm elections in November will arrive on Capitol Hill today, many with family in tow, waiting to be sworn in to the brand new 118th Congress. There will be exuberant scenes but the House speaker vote comes first.
      House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy faces historic struggle to clinch speakership, with a battle royale on Capital Hill.
      Is Kevin McCarthy’s bid to be House speaker doomed? As we head for an excruciating third round of voting in the election for speaker, there is no sign of the California Republican, who has long aspired to step into the role, gaining a majority of the votes.Some speculate that if this goes on, McCarthy could step aside and nominate prominent Louisiana congressman Steve Scalise to be speaker in his stead.Any idea of Ohio rightwinger Jim Jordan leapfrogging into the seat and grasping the gavel seems far-fetched.Jim Jordan isn’t gaining much traction among House Republicans voting for Speaker. If Kevin McCarthy can’t twist enough arms or offer enough inducements to get to 218, look for Steve Scalise of Louisiana to be among the nominees eventually, possibly next@AJEnglish— John Hendren (@johnhendren) January 3, 2023
      And…After @Jim_Jordan fails to garner the support of House Republicans, @SteveScalise will become the Speaker.Will @GOPLeader drag this out for several hours?Days?Or simply bow out?Remember, Kevin McCarthy pretends he’s very concerned about not stalling the oversight agenda. https://t.co/XeC84RkBGA— 🇺🇸 Mike Davis 🇺🇸 (@mrddmia) January 3, 2023
      It’s surreal.So Jim Jordan endorsed Kevin McCarthy… but keep an eye on Steve Scalise… he’s had his head down all day. @NEWSMAX— Rob Finnerty (@RobFinnertyUSA) January 3, 2023
      Steve Scalise is also a stalwart of the right wing known for hanging around with white supremacists and Klan types.Steve Scalise says attending white supremacist conference was a ‘mistake’Read moreScalise was badly wounded in a mass shooting targeting members of Congress at a baseball practice in 2017.It’s an epic defeat for Kevin McCarthy and warring House Republicans. The second round of voting – which has not happened in a century – is over and California Republican McCarthy is still nowhere near a majority.The clerk of the House, Cheryl Johnson, will announce the official tally shortly, but the pen-and-paper watchers have Democrat Hakeem Jeffries on 212 votes, McCarthy on 203, the same desultory number he got in the first round, and fellow-Republican Jim Jordan on 19 votes.Once again it is unclear what will happen next, the chamber is still in session and, unless McCarthy drops out, we have a third round of voting pending. If Democrats could leave the chamber they’d probably pop to the proverbial popcorn cart and settle in for the rest of the spectacle.The humiliations for Kevin McCarthy just keep coming. Right-winger Jim Jordan of Ohio, who is a McCarthy supporter but was nominated by anti-McCarthy rebel Matt Gaetz to disrupt everything, already has 19 votes in the election for House speaker.Democrat Hakeem Jeffries, the minority leader, is also ahead of McCarthy, with 196 votes compared with McCarthy’s 183. Jeffries won’t be able to get a majority, with Republicans controlling the House, but he is playing a big part in the epic embarrassment for McCarthy.We’re up to the Ws already in the roll call vote, so McCarthy’s second go around of twisting on a skewer is about to wrap up.McCarthy is doing his best to keep a fixed smile on his face in the chamber, but the giveaway is his left hand reflexively tapping his leg with nerves.The last time the vote went to multiple ballots was in 1923, when a small bloc of Republicans refused to reelect Rep. Frederick Gillett (R-Mass.) as speaker. (The rebels were part of the party’s progressive faction, in contrast to the conservatives threatening to block McCarthy’s rise today, but like their modern counterparts, they were pressing for changes to House rules), the Washington Post reports today.The Washington Post continues:“So powerful and determined was the grip of the insurgents that after the fourth ballot Nicholas Longworth, the Republican floor leader, moved an adjournment until tomorrow, when the struggle will be resumed,” the New York Times reported at the time.Gillett did not prevail until the ninth ballot, two days after voting began. He was elected with 215 votes, the lowest total of any speaker since the House reached its modern size. (Others have come close, though: Pelosi prevailed with 216 votes in 2021, as did Boehner in 2015.)Older fights over the speakership dragged on even longer, such as the 1855 deadlock that ended with the election of Representative Nathaniel Banks as speaker. It took 133 ballots. “This will not take that [long],” former House speaker Newt Gingrich told The Early last month.The second round of voting for the speakership has begun. There was no recess between votes, only frantic minutes of huddling horse-trading on the floor.This has not happened in century. All other speakers have managed to get elected on one round of voting.Arizona rightwinger Andy Biggs, who was nominated in the first round as a spoiler and got 10 votes, just voted for Jim Jordan, the Ohio rightwinger who’s just been nominated by Florida rebel Matt Gaetz as a spoiler against McCarthy in this round.Freedom caucus extremist Lauren Boebert just voted for Jordan, too.Here’s Axe:This is awful for Rs. Good for the Ds. But likely bad for the country as a whole over the next two years, as the crazy right holds the House hostage.This was foreshadowed by the anemic R margin in the fall, a rejection by Americans of the very extremism that is seizing the day.— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) January 3, 2023
      Ohio right-winger Jim Jordan has just re-nominated Kevin McCarthy to become House Speaker.Jordan said: “We need to rally around him.” He then quoted the Bible, calling on the caucus to “keep the faith” and unify around McCarthy.It’s a crisis for the Republicans in the House, no doubt about it.California Democrat Pete Aguilar is now once again nominating Democratic minority leader Hakeem Jeffries as that party’s choice for speaker.Freedom caucus and right-wing rebel Matt Gaetz of Florida has now risen. he’s nominating Jim Jordan to become speaker. We’re definitely in sitcom territory now, other than this is about one of the highest offices in the land and third in line to the presidency.Wry smiling from McCarthy, who’s sitting feet from Gaetz. In the first round, Arizona congressman Paul Gosar nominated Andy Biggs. He’s not being nominated this time around. The reading clerk is now going to call the roll and voting will begin.House clerk Cheryl Johnson is now formally reporting the vote in the first round for House Speaker, where Kevin McCarthy slumped to a humiliating defeat.Johnson confirms that Democratic minority leader Hakeem Jeffries received 212 votes. McCarthy received 203 votes. Rightwinger Andy Biggs of Arizona received 10 votes. Rightwinger Jim Jordan, who was not formally nominated, received six votes.There were 434 votes vast. Republicans hold 222 seats and should have been able to reach a majority behind one nominee – but civil war prevails.Johnson announced: “No person, having received a majority of the whole number of votes cast … as speaker has not been elected.”She notes that for the first time since 1923, the voting will now go to a second round.Astonishingly, because it is the first day of the new Congress, the floor of the House of Representatives is not just full of representatives, there is a smattering of children, babies, even, miniature adults in suits and a variety of family members.They’re there to see their relatives sworn in for the 118th Congress. There are many freshman members who won their races in the midterm elections in November and are now waiting to take their seats.On the first day of a new congress, new members bring family along. What these folk are now witnessing is an historic mess as Republican civil war in the House produces a scene of chaos.No-one is being sworn in until the House has a Speaker, which it is currently missing, the Speaker’s seat sitting vividly unoccupied, the gavel silent.Right-winger and conspiracy theory-fan Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia is huddling with Kevin McCarthy right now, after he just lost the first round of voting to elect the House Speaker.She voted for him, unlike other right-wing rebels such as Lauren Boebert, Matt Gaetz, Paul Gosar and Scott Perry.Jim Jordan, who backs McCarthy, is trying to swing support behind McCarthy now, doing the rounds on the floor.🚨🚨 NEWS: Sources tell me TEAM MCCARTHY wants to move DIRECTLY into second ballot.JORDAN making the rounds on the floor to whip his supporters.— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) January 3, 2023
      Much huddling and milling about on the floor of the House of Representatives before the chamber is expected to proceed to an historic second round of voting for the election of House speaker.California Republican Kevin McCarthy just spectacularly failed to win a majority of House votes to become speaker in the first round. The House currently has no speaker. The chamber is not in recess, it’s still in session. It’s not entirely clear what will happen in the moments between now and the next round of voting.McCarthy has been handed his pride on a plate by a knot of right-wing rebels in his own party who refused to vote for him, who he has failed to win over despite intense days and, indeed, weeks of negotiating.Six lawmakers voted for representative Jim Jordan, even though he was nor formally on the ballot. Will Jordan try to get those people to switch to McCarthy? That still won’t give McCarthy the requisite 218-vote majority he needs.McCarthy can be seen laughing loudly as he talks to allies on the floor. One wonders what he is feeling inside.The first round of voting is over and it’s a humiliating defeat for California Republican Kevin McCarthy’s bid to become House speaker.He just made history in the worst way. The first person in a century to lose the vote for speaker in the first round.After the roll call, Democrat Hakeem Jeffries had 212 votes, McCarthy had just 203, Republican strategic thorn Andy Biggs (nominated by rightwing rebel Paul Gosar) had 10 votes and nine lawmakers supported none of the three hats in the ring.McCarthy needed 218 votes to be elected speaker and he technically could have garnered that many based on Republican numbers, but failed spectacularly.This immediately plunges House Republicans into crisis on their first day in control of the House after the midterm elections.We’re coming up on the end of the alphabet and not only is Kevin McCarthy far short of winning a majority in the election for House Speaker, he’s behind Democratic minority leader HakeemJeffries in the voting.This is a disaster for Republicans on their first day supposedly in control of the House of Representatives.They can’t recess without the clerk of the House, Cheryl Johnson, agreeing to a vote, it seems, so the Democrats might just keep everyone on the floor and force the second round of voting to proceed with McCarthy having any chance to twist more arms on his side. More

    • 163 Shares199 Views

      in US Politics

      Kevin McCarthy faces long battle after two votes fail to win House speakership

      by

      Kevin McCarthy faces long battle after two votes fail to win House speakership‘We have a battle on the floor’: ultraconservatives vote against the aspiring leader as challengers rack up votes In a historic delay, House Republican leader, Kevin McCarthy, is facing a protracted battle to secure the speaker’s gavel after failing to win the first and second votes on Tuesday, the opening day of the new Congress.On both of the first two ballots to decide the next House speaker, 19 Republicans opposed McCarthy’s candidacy, leaving him 15 votes short of the 218 needed for a win. In a demoralizing sign for the new House Republican majority, Democrat Hakeem Jeffries received more votes than McCarthy on both ballots.With his loss, McCarthy became the first nominee for speaker in 100 years to fail to win the initial vote for the gavel. After the inconclusive first two ballots, the House prepared for additional votes that could stretch into Tuesday evening.McCarthy previously acknowledged he was unlikely to win the speakership on the first ballot, setting the stage for a potentially lengthy delay before new members of the House can be sworn into office. Underscoring his commitment, McCarthy suggested he was comfortable breaking the record for the longest speakership election in history, which currently stands at two months and 133 ballots.“We may have a battle on the floor,” McCarthy told reporters ahead of the vote. “But the battle is for the conference and the country, and that’s fine with me.”The Republican opposition to McCarthy has been led by members of the House Freedom Caucus, a hard-right group of lawmakers who have pushed for a number of changes to chamber rules in recent weeks. Scott Perry, the chair of the Freedom Caucus, reiterated his opposition on Tuesday and accused McCarthy of failing to work in good faith with his group.“At nearly every turn, we’ve been sidelined or resisted by McCarthy, and any perceived progress has often been vague or contained loopholes that further amplified concerns as to the sincerity of the promises being made,” Perry said in a statement. “Kevin McCarthy had an opportunity to be Speaker of the House. He rejected it.”McCarthy’s allies have lashed out against Perry and other holdouts in the speakership vote, contending they have prioritized their own political ambitions over the wellbeing of the party.Formally nominating McCarthy for speaker before the first vote, Elise Stefanik wholeheartedly endorsed his candidacy and delivered some thinly veiled criticism of his opponents.“No one in this body has worked harder for this Republican majority than Kevin McCarthy,” Stefanik said. “A proud conservative with a tireless work ethic, Kevin McCarthy has earned the speakership of the People’s House.”In the first vote, a third nomination was put forward by Arizona congressman Paul Gosar, a far-right Republican who offered Arizona congressman Andy Biggs as a conservative alternative. Of the 19 Republicans who opposed McCarthy on the first ballot, 10 supported Biggs, who lost to McCarthy in the November nominating contest, 188-31. On the second ballot, Jim Jordan, a Republican of Ohio, won the support of all 19 Republicans who opposed McCarthy in the first vote. That impressive showing came even after Jordan himself nominated McCarthy for the second ballot in an attempted show of unity. In his nominating speech, Jordan outlined Republicans’ legislative agenda and urged his colleagues to set aside their differences to achieve their collective goals.“We need to rally around him [and] come together,” Jordan said.The Tuesday conference meeting failed to resolve the lingering issues between McCarthy and his detractors. Matt Gaetz, one of McCarthy’s most vocal critics in the caucus, said that those withholding their support were threatened with being removed from committees if they did not change their position.“If you want to drain the swamp, you cannot put the biggest alligator in charge of the exercise,” Gaetz told reporters. “I’m a Florida man, and I know of what I speak.”Gaetz and his colleagues showed no sign of relenting as the House prepared for a third ballot on Tuesday afternoon. Their continued opposition raised the prospect of the first lengthy floor fight over the House speakership in 100 years, as the last such spectacle unfolded in 1923.”We’re not going to back down until we get in a room and we decide how we’ll be able to stand up and fight for the American people no matter who the speaker is.””I’m not blinking.” pic.twitter.com/BGY2RmucQ8— Rep. Chip Roy Press Office (@RepChipRoy) January 3, 2023
      As Republicans squabbled, Democrats rallied behind their leader, Jeffries. “He does not bend a knee to anyone who would seek to undermine our democracy,” California congressman Pete Aguilar, the third-ranking House Democrat, said in a speech nominating Jeffries to be speaker.Across the Capitol, the Senate convened without incident. Democrats welcomed two new members – including Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, who helped his party secure a 51-49 majority in the chamber.In his first floor remarks of the new Congress, the majority leader, Chuck Schumer, commended his counterpart, the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, on becoming the chamber’s longest-serving party leader in history.As a new era of divided government begins, after two years of unified Democratic control, Schumer acknowledged the legislative path forward “won’t be easy” but was nevertheless optimistic.“After everything we’ve accomplished in an evenly divided Senate and a narrowly divided House,” he said, “there’s no reason both sides can’t keep working together for the good of our country, our beloved country.”Kevin McCarthy’s faces election for House speaker unsure if he has votes needed – liveRead moreTopicsHouse of RepresentativesRepublicansUS politicsUS CongressUS SenateChuck SchumernewsReuse this content More

    • 113 Shares109 Views

      in US Politics

      George Santos: Brazil reactivates fraud case against fabulist congressman-elect

      by

      George Santos: Brazil reactivates fraud case against fabulist congressman-electRepublican is accused of using stolen checkbook and fake name at shop outside Rio de Janeiro in 2008 As the fabulist New York Republican representative-elect George Santos prepares to be sworn in on Tuesday, Brazilian prosecutors say they are reopening a criminal fraud case against him.Santos, who faces federal and state investigations involving possible criminal activity related to his two congressional campaigns, is accused of using a stolen checkbook and fake name at a clothing shop outside Rio de Janeiro in 2008, the New York Times reported on Monday citing court documents.House of lies: outrage as Republicans prepare to swear in fantasist SantosRead moreThe case languished for more than a decade, however, as Brazilian authorities did not know where Santos was.Santos reportedly told police in 2010 that he and his mother stole the checkbook from a man that she had once worked for, and then used it to make illicit purchases, per the Times.He seemed to come clean about the purported fraud to the store’s proprietor the next year on a Brazilian social media website, allegedly writing: “I know I screwed up, but I want to pay.”While a judge in Brazil greenlit a charge against Santos in 2011, he had already gone to the US. Because Brazilian authorities needed to officially notify him to the charges before the case could proceed, the case ground to a halt. Brazilian prosecutors will now file a petition in court asking that Santos respond to the charges, after which Brazil’s justice ministry will send it to the US justice department.If convicted, the maximum penalty is five years imprisonment as well as a fine, the New York Times said.Santos has insisted on his innocence. “I am not a criminal here – not here or in Brazil or any jurisdiction in the world,” he told the New York Post after the story was first revealed. “Absolutely not. That didn’t happen.”Santos has admitted to lying about integral parts of his biography, such as claims that he worked for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, as well as completing college. “My sins here are embellishing my résumé. I’m sorry,” Santos said.He also tried to dispel criticism that he misrepresented having Jewish heritage. On Santos’s campaign website, he claimed that his mother was Jewish and that his grandparents fled the Nazi regime in the second world war.Santos is now claiming that he is “clearly Catholic”, but that his grandmother recounted being Jewish and later becoming Catholic. “I never claimed to be Jewish,” he told the newspaper. “Because I learned my maternal family had a Jewish background I said I was ‘Jew-ish’.”Santos has since faced calls to step down by some members of his own party. The Texas Republican representative Kevin Brady, formerly the ranking member of the House ways and means committee, said on Fox News that Santos “is certainly going to have to consider resigning”, while the outgoing Arkansas governor, Asa Hutchinson, recently said that Santos’s falsehoods were “unacceptable” and needed to be investigated by the ethics committee.TopicsRepublicansHouse of RepresentativesBrazilUS politicsAmericasnewsReuse this content More

    • 113 Shares109 Views

      in Elections

      George Santos Comes to Washington. It Could Be Awkward.

      by

      On the first day of the 118th Congress, the representative-elect, a Republican who has made false claims about his background, education and finances, will bring his saga to Capitol Hill.WASHINGTON — Representative-elect George Santos has been hard to pin down.“No one can find him,” Representative Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York and the incoming minority leader, said at a news conference last week, pressing for answers on the geyser of falsehoods about Mr. Santos’s background that have been revealed since he flipped a Democratic seat on Long Island in November.But beginning on Tuesday, Mr. Santos will not be able to hide anymore.He is to arrive on Capitol Hill for what is shaping up as a chaotic opening day of the 118th Congress, perhaps as the most notorious member of a new House Republican majority that is toiling to overcome deep divisions as it assumes control and the speakership is still up in the air.It will most likely be an awkward moment for Mr. Santos, who will get his first taste of navigating the Capitol and its all-permeating press corps in the midst of a scandal of his own making.He is under the shadow of active investigations by federal and local prosecutors into potential criminal activity during his two congressional campaigns. Prosecutors told The New York Times on Monday that Brazilian law enforcement authorities intended to revive fraud charges against him stemming from an incident in 2008 regarding a stolen checkbook.Democrats are already calling for him to give up his seat, and members of his own party are demanding more detailed explanations of his conduct.That includes making up claims about his résumé, his education, his ties to Wall Street firms and his charitable endeavors — all of which have been revealed as part of a fantasy persona created as the backbone of his pitch to voters.In addition to his background, Mr. Santos has misrepresented parts of his finances and filed incomplete or inaccurate congressional disclosures. He has also claimed that he is Jewish and the descendant of Holocaust survivors. Mr. Santos is Catholic.Federal and local prosecutors are investigating whether he committed crimes involving his finances or misleading statements.Mr. Santos, the first openly gay Republican to win a House seat as a non-incumbent, has yet to offer a full accounting to the voters who elected him based on a largely made-up biography. He has admitted to “embellishing” his résumé and to the fact that he did not graduate from any institution of higher education.He has promised to tell his whole story at some point.Still, it remains unclear what, if anything, Republicans will do to punish him, or how he will choose to comport himself once he is sworn in on Tuesday. Representative Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California and the minority leader, cannot afford to lose a single vote as he labors to win the speakership. He has remained silent about Mr. Santos and his position in the Republican conference.Mr. McCarthy, for now, has more pressing concerns, like his own political future, to contend with.And for now, Mr. Santos appears ready to keep moving forward.“It was an honor to tour the United States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point today,” he tweeted three days after Christmas, with a photograph of him and a large ship’s wheel. “In Congress, I look forward to working alongside them to fully utilize this amazing resource we have in our own backyard.” More

    • 113 Shares119 Views

      in Elections

      A Con Man Is Succeeding Me in Congress Today

      by

      Today is my last day as a member of Congress, and George Santos is about to be sworn in to take the seat I held for six years. He will take an oath to “bear true faith” to the Constitution and take this obligation without any “purpose of evasion.” I’ve lost track of how many evasions and lies Mr. Santos has told about himself, his finances and his history and relationship with our stretch of Long Island and northeastern Queens. When he is seated, it will diminish our Congress, our country and my constituents — soon his constituents. It saddens me that after 30 years of public service rooted in hard work and service to the people of this area, I’m being succeeded by a con man.Yet I’m clinging to my sense of optimism. I believe that as slow and frustrating as it sometimes is, our democracy, our free press and the rule of law work. They have to.I also know the voters of the Third District pretty well; they believe in the rule of law, in playing by the rules. They like authenticity in their leaders and pride themselves on having a good BS detector. The fact is that Mr. Santos’s behavior went beyond BS: He fabricated the basics of his biography to an extent that most voters wouldn’t have thought possible. The shame would be too great, right? I am certain that if the Third District’s voters have an opportunity to weigh in on his political future again, he will be gone.But for now, there is no getting around the fact that Mr. Santos’s con game is a manifestation of a growing political phenomenon of saying or doing anything, with no automatic consequences. Whether it be far-right election deniers, personal attacks that call for violence against opponents, claims of false-flag mass shootings, extremists spouting the first thing that comes to mind and even one politician saying he could “shoot somebody” on Fifth Avenue and still not lose supporters. If we are going to subdue the tyranny of unchecked liars and their lies, then Mr. Santos must be held accountable: He must be removed by Congress or by prosecutors, because there is no indication that he will be moved by conscience to voluntarily resign.I do not say these things lightly. Expelling a member of Congress is no easy task, and the bar is rightly high. Our country’s democracy is based on free and fair elections, the wisdom of the voters and the peaceful transfer of power. Some of my constituents even now are saying that they don’t want their vote overridden and Mr. Santos ousted.But now we know that no one voted for the real George Santos. Sure, some candidates say and do anything to get into office and then abuse the public trust. In Mr. Santos, we have someone who abused the public trust even before he got into office; it’s mind-boggling to think what his actions and conversations will be like in Congress on behalf of his constituents.I know from my experience as a mayor of my hometown, as a county executive and as a member of Congress that you cannot get things done without building trust with your colleagues. How can Mr. Santos be trusted? How could he be effective?Even before Mr. Santos’s lies were exposed in the media, he showed himself to be an avatar of this age of no-consequences impunity. He ran against me in 2020: It was the middle of the Covid pandemic, he did not live in the district, and no one had heard of him. He had little in campaign funds, and during our few joint campaign appearances, all virtual, he came across as a phony. I ignored him, hardly mentioned his name and beat him by 12 points.On election night 2020, Mr. Santos jumped on Donald Trump’s discredited “stop the steal” bandwagon. We knew on Election Day we had won and won big, but he used the Trump movement to raise funds online and attended the orientation for new members before the race was called. I was sworn in on Jan. 3, 2021, without much ado. Then we learned he attended the Jan. 6 Trump rally at the Ellipse. He went on to boast that he had written “a nice check for a law firm” to help defendants who had stormed the Capitol. (He probably didn’t even do that.) His behavior should have alerted us all, but he wasn’t taken seriously, and unfortunately, as Robert Zimmerman, his Democratic opponent in the 2022 election, has said, the press didn’t really grasp the level of his deceit. His actions and comments around Jan. 6 didn’t have the consequences they should have.We now know more about his phony biographical information. We are appalled by his insensitive and fallacious pandering to the Jewish community. His apology tour has been cringeworthy and continues to raise more disturbing questions. We will learn more about his newfound wealth and questionable financial disclosures and campaign financing as the press, law enforcement and, ideally, the House Ethics Committee dig in. But we already know enough.Could he be enjoying all the attention? This inexperienced newcomer who fabricated much of his life story is now better known than most members of Congress, including me. He’s becoming as well known as others who abused trust, like Sam Bankman-Fried and Bernie Madoff. Not unlike them, he appears to have conducted his finances in highly unusual, if not unlawful, ways. But I have to wonder, having seen his delight for attention and his self-regard, if he loves that everyone now knows his name — even though it’s because of yet another big lie.The people of my district are holding rallies, signing petitions and calling on the Republican leadership to act. The district is a model for moderation, seen by most political observers as a 50-50 district with constituents who embrace a get-it-done attitude. They dislike partisanship and value tell-it-like-it-is leadership. They are now being saddled with a slippery, inexperienced liar who tells it like it isn’t. They’ve been reaching out every day to ask, “How could this have happened?” and “What can we do?” We are counting on the press to keep digging in, law enforcement to keep investigating and the political pressure to keep building on the House.But again, I believe we will get this right. So many panicked people came to me during Mr. Trump’s presidency, fearful that his tactics would win a second term — and one with a mandate, no less. He lost. I was one of the last people in the chamber as the Jan. 6 riot intensified, and people legitimately worried that the insurrectionists would succeed. We certified the election that night, and more than 960 people have been charged. The election deniers were decisively turned back.One of my favorite lines from the 2011 film “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” has always stayed with me: “Everything will be all right in the end. So if it is not all right, then it is not yet the end.” That’s how I feel about America right now. It’s not a naïve idea; it’s what keeps us sane and able to keep moving forward in the age of Mr. Santos and Mr. Trump. The system works — if not right away, then ultimately. It has worked throughout our history, and it will work now.Tom Suozzi, a Democrat, has represented New York’s Third Congressional District since 2017. He is a former Nassau County executive and mayor of Glen Cove on Long Island and ran for the Democratic nomination for governor of New York in 2022.The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our email: letters@nytimes.com.Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram. More